Sunday, September 14, 2008

MID AUTUMN MOON FESTIVAL

The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox（秋分）. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon".

This day was also considered as a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates（石榴）, melons, oranges and pomelos（柚子） might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro（芋头）and water caltrope（菱角）, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some people insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of all these foods, it could not be omitted from the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These cakes were made with melon seeds（西瓜子）, lotus seeds（莲籽）, almonds（杏仁）, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard（猪油）. A golden yolk（蛋黄） from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary（闰月的） moon.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the Zhou Dynasty(1066 B.C.-221 B.C.), people hold ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival sets in. It becomes very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. When it becomes dark, they look up at the full silver moon or go sightseeing on lakes to celebrate the festival. Since the Ming (1368-1644 A.D. ) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911A.D.), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration becomes unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appear some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense（熏香）, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances. However, the custom of playing under the moon is not so popular as it used to be nowadays, but it is not less popular to enjoy the bright silver moon. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best wishes to them.

There is this story about the moon-cake. during the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to the foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attached and overthrew the government. Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend and was called the Moon Cake.

For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates（枣子）, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes which are served in the English holiday seasons.

Nowadays, there are hundreds varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of Moon Festival.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

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UK adopters can't adopt a SN child because DCSF don't have a system that works with CCAA's new online system to place these children. We understand that DCSF are working on this anomaly. We ask that they work swiftly to end this discrimination and develop a system that facilitates the placement of SN children in UK families.CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION

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LITTLE SIS'S ADOPTION TIMELINE

End of 2003 - decided to adopt (always knew I'd have at least 2 children!)July 2008 - completed adoption paperwork for Alice22nd August 2008 - applied to SS for a second HS21st September 2008 - 7th December 2008 - HS8th January 2009 - passed Panel (UK approval to adopt SN daughter from Thailand)30th June dossier received in Thailand30th December switched to domestic adoption

Still to come:Wait for a new SW, new medical, new addemdum to HS, another Panel (hopefully with approval, wait for matching . . . . homecoming)

ALICE'S ADOPTION TIMELINE

End of 2003 - decided to adoptEarly 2004 - rang SS and had preliminary visit to explain process, went on waiting list for HSSept 2004 - accepted last minute place on Adoption Preparation CourseOctober 2004 - met SW and realised I was expecting HS for China and SS were expecting HS for domestic placementNovember 2004 - met new SW and HS beganFebruary 2005 - HS complete9th May 2005 - passed Panel (UK approval given to adopt from China)10th June 2005 - dossier sent to Welsh Assembly Government1st July - dossier sent to Dfes in London14th October 2005 - dossier left UK for China, DTC!1st November 2005 - dossier logged in at CCAA, LID.1st September 2006 - dossier out of review room.15th October 2006 - Alice born.Easter 2007 - devasted that rumour to be included in referrals turns out to be wrong.30th April 2007 - find out my LID is the cutoff date, my referral is on it's way!2nd May 2007 - referral confirmed, my baby is An Hao Ming, born 15.10.06 in Yunnan, overwhelmed at referral and amazed at such a young baby!9th May 2007 (2nd anniversary of Panel approval) - I finally get to see my baby's face and learn more about her. Meet with GP and SW to get approval and formally accept referral.1st June 2007 - get visa to go to China.29th June 2007 - leave UK for China.30th June 2007 - arrive in Kunming, Alice's home town.1st July 2007 - take my baby in my arms for the first time, an incredible day.2nd July 2007 - adopt Alice.11th July 2007 - bring Alice home.December 2007 - British Citizenship granted.July 2008 - Alice's first UK passport issued and complete official paperwork for her adoption.